When Destiny Is Rushed
by Kel Kenobi
Summary: After returning from Narnia where they met Prince Caspian, the Pevensies are sent to another realm known as Middle Earth to help defeat a growing evil. But when they begin to grow closer to their new allies, will Susan be able to leave this time?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer 1: I own neither _The Lord of the Rings_ nor _The Chronicles of Narnia_.**

**Summary: After returning from Narnia where they met Prince Caspian, the Pevensies are sent to another world known as Middle Earth to help defeat a growing evil. But when they begin to grow closer to their new allies, will Susan be able to leave this time?**

**Enjoy! ~Kel**

**When Destiny Is Rushed**

**1**

"You know, Peter, I was just starting to get used to being in England again. Now I have to acclimate again." I complained to my older brother while they were on the train that was taking them home from school.

"I know what you mean, Susan," Peter told me. "But at least we know we're never going back. It might be easier knowing that." I nodded, knowing my brother was right. Still, that didn't make it any easier. It had taken all of my courage to leave my land again, much less my Caspian. I would always remember him, I knew that much. Even knowing that he was probably now about 50 didn't help.

"Easier for you, maybe," our younger brother Edmund cut in, Lucy nodding with him. "We know we're going back someday. We just don't know when." Peter nodded, agreeing with them.

"True," he told them, "But you know that you'll see it again. Susan and I have to live with what we've seen, not what we will see."

While we were talking, the train made a stop and the last few people other than them got off. Whirring along again, I reflected that these moments were the quietest- the times when it was only us on the train car. While Peter and Edmund continued debating, the car finally slowed to a stop.

"Come along boys," I told them, knowing we had to get home to do our schoolwork. As we exited the train together, we stepped out of London and into a green wooded forest that reminded me too much of Narnia.

* * *

><p>Lucy let out a high-pitch squeal when she turned around and the train they had just been on was nowhere to be seen. We all looked around, very confused. Looking down at what we were wearing, I got even more confused.<p>

Lucy was in a golden, floor-length gown that laced up in back, with a hemline than began around her shoulders and dipped a little in the front and back. The sleeves were tight down to her elbows, where they flared. It flared out around Lucy's waist, and ended just above her feet where I could see crimson ballet-flats. Lucy's hair was plaited down her back, the same it had been when we had left, but there was a crimson ribbon braided into it. She had a small belt with a dagger hanging from it.

Edmund was dressed in dark brown breeches, a tan tunic, which appeared loosely laced up, and a black leather vest. I could see a blue shirt underneath the tunic. He had black lace-up combat boots on, and a belt with which a sword in its scabbard was attached.

Peter was dressed similarly, with black breeches and a tan tunic. His vest was a dark brown, and I spotted a green shirt underneath his tunic. Peter also had black combat boots, as well as a sword. However, on his back, a shield was swung over it. As he turned, I could see that it wasn't his lion shield, but rather one that was plainly painted the same green as his shirt.

I was dressed in an emerald green gown that laced up front and back, with sleeves that look like they were made of golden rope. My dress was tight until right below the waist, where it did not so much flare out as loosened up. I could feel a corset around myself, which really was a shame. That was one of the upsides to living in London, there were no corsets. I was in golden flats. Reaching up to touch my hair, which had been up in a ponytail, I felt it now flowing freely down my back and shoulders.

So if this was Narnia, we had come into it very prepared this time around. The last two times we had arrived, we had been dressed in our normal English clothes. So why would we have changed this time around? That was something to ponder, I thought, looking around, seeing if we could get a clue as to where we were. Realizing I didn't recognize anything and could barely hear the trees speak, I decided we weren't anywhere in Narnia we had been to. In fact, I didn't even know if we were in Narnia.

"Um... Where are we?" Peter asked after a few minutes of stunned silence.

"It's Narnia, don't you see, we're back in Narnia!" Lucy exclaimed excitedly.

"Yeah Lu, but Peter and Susan aren't supposed to come back." Edmund reminded her. Lucy's face fell.

"Oh yeah." She said thoughtfully. "But where else could we be?" Lucy pondered.

"Well," I started, "I mean, it is possible that there are other worlds than just ours and Narnia. Maybe we've been sent into another one." Pondering this theory, I decided it was probably the right one.

Peter nodded. "OK, well if that's it, then why are we here? I mean, we were in Narnia because of a prophecy and we had to defeat the White Witch. I highly doubt that there's more than one White Witch running around the worlds." We all agreed on that point.

"I don't know," I said. "Maybe we have something to learn here? Narnia taught us all different things, so maybe we're here to learn more." Edmund nodded.

"That sounds right." He said. "I mean, we all have loads to learn. Maybe we were sent here to help and to learn."

"Alright, well until we find out why we're here, we should probably see if we can find someone. Or things," Lucy said, "I mean, we can't just stand here waiting to learn something. We have to go and find stuff to learn from." We all nodded.

"Alright, why don't we start walking that way?" Peter said, pointing right. "Let's walk that way a bit, and see if we come across something." Since no one had a better idea, we all followed Peter off further into the woods, and- what I hoped would be- an adventure.


	2. Chapter 2

**'Ello again! I got motivated today :). Also, sorry for spelling mistakes and such.**

**Disclaimer 2: (Yes, I'm going to number how many disclaimers I have up.) I do not own _The Lord of the Rings, _nor_ The Chronicles of Narnia._ Would I be here if I did? No, no I wouldn't. Now, on with the story!**

**When Destiny Is Rushed**

**2**

"Peter, we've been walking for hours. Can we please stop?" Lucy asked Peter. Peter consented. I was relieved to give my feet a rest. Although the flats I was in would be comfortable in a house or castle, they were not good for walking around a forest in. I knew Lucy was thinking the same thing. Finding a large rock, we sat down and started to massage our feet.

"Peter, what if we don't find people before nightfall?" I asked. Peter shrugged. Now that we were back in another world, we all automatically looked up to Peter, like we were back in Cair Paravel.

"We sleep on the ground after we find a stream or pond." He said simply. "Actually, I'm hoping that if we make enough noise people will eventually hear us and try and find us."

"Well, looks like that part of your plan worked out pretty well." A voice behind them drawled. Whirling, I was up and had an arrow notched and my bow up pointing at the stranger before I registered that Peter and Edmund were in front of me with their swords drawn. Moving so I could see the newcomer, I saw that it was a band of people. They numbered eight- and some looked very strange. Keeping my bow up and pointed at who I assumed was the leader, I took inventory of everyone else.

Firstly, there were two men that looked about 30, maybe a bit younger or older. The first had shoulder-length dark brown hair, as well as a slight beard. He was very tall, about 6 ft 5, maybe a bit more. The second was only a bit shorter, with lighter hair and a more prominent beard. My bow was pointed at the former. They both had swords out and drawn, and the latter had a horn that resembled mine in Narnia. I decided to be wary of that.

Next, there was a man who looked human but for his pointed ears. I had read enough tales to assume he was an elf. He had long, straight blonde hair and striking blue eyes. He seemed a bit shorter than the humans. Dressed in green and brown, he blended in with the trees but for his hair. He also had a bow nocked with an arrow pointed at Peter. I saw a long white knife strapped to his side.

Beside the elf, there was a very short man. He looked much like the dwarves from Narnia, so I classified him as such. He had long, shaggy red hair and a matching beard. He wore full armour and had a large battle-axe out and pointed at Edmund. I didn't like the look in his eyes.

Behind these four were another four a little smaller than the dwarf who all looked just a bit older than myself, but for the height. The first had dark brown hair, and this made him stand out. The other three all had light brown hair, with a tint of red in it. The dark-haired one was clutching something around his neck, and was hidden behind the others. I thought this odd. All of them wore green cloaks and fairly similar clothing. Two stood together and looked like they could be twins, and the other stood near the dark-haired one almost protectively. They all had out little belt-daggers the same size as Lucy's.

The human I took to be the leader spoke again. "Well, we appear to be at a standstill." He almost smiled as he said this. He had a strange accent- to me it seemed like a cross between all the different European accents, mainly the Eastern Europe ones. But, as we were in a different world, I suppose that that didn't really come into play here. Maybe it was where he came from.

Peter spoke for us, without needing to consult us. "And what do you suppose we do about that?" He said, matching the stranger's light and joking tone, but not lowering his sword. I noted that no one else lowered their weapons either. The four small people- I didn't know what they were, but certainly not dwarves- started to lower their daggers along with Lucy, but stopped when they noticed that no one else was lowering their weapons. I shoved Lucy behind me in case the elf decided to start shooting us.

"Well, we do outnumber you," the stranger told us. "And, if I am right, most of us have more fighting experience than any of you."

Peter smiled grimly at that. "I wouldn't count on that." He told the man. "You see, we've lived multiple lives." I hid a laugh at that. It was true, but Peter made it out that we had lived more than two. We'd really only lived out our lives in Narnia and some of our lives in Britain, but they didn't need to know that.

"You jest!" The dwarf spoke with much ferocity. "You are little more than a child!" We all stiffened at that. The last time someone had called us children, Peter had beaten him in single-combat.

"Oh, do we?" Peter said coldly. "We know not where we are, but where we come from we are kings and queens. We have defeated witches and forces much heavier than yours!" I could tell Peter was completely into his "High King Peter" mode. We all knew not to mess with him when he adopted that, but these strangers did not. Or at least, the hot-headed dwarf did not.

"Come now," the other human, the one with the horn, spoke. "That cannot be true. After all, we know all the kings here. And after all, you have women in your presence. They cannot fight, they only mend and cook." I turned cold at his tone. He looked at me appraisingly, eyes scanning me. I suddenly wished I had my fighting gear, but decided I would settle for a demonstration with my bow.

Before Peter could respond, I had taken aim upon a fruit directly above this man's head. I released my arrow, and it flew true. It severed the stem attaching it to the tree, and it dropped directly onto the man's head. Even before it hit him, I had another arrow nocked and pointed directly at him. I noted that the elf's bow had switched direction and was now pointed at me, but his face showed curiosity and a bit of awe rather than hatred or fear.

"I suggest you rethink your last comment, good sir," I said icily, "Or my next arrow might just find it's way into your head. Don't." I told him as he reached for his horn. "I had one of those. I know exactly what it does." The man nodded and settled for not lowering his sword. I smiled without mirth.

"Now that we've seen that you do not jest," Their leader told us, looking warningly around at his company, "How about we all lower our weapons and talk nice and companionly. We might even become friends." After a second, Peter nodded. As one, we all lowered our weapons. As a sign of trust, the elf and I even unnocked our bows and everyone sheathed their various pointy weapons. Clapping his now-free hands together, the leader genuinely smiled.

"Welcome, friends, to Middle Earth," he told us. "I am Aragorn, also known as Strider. This is Boromir," he told us, clasping the other man's shoulder, "The elf is Legolas, the dwarf Gimli, and these four are the hobbits Merry, Pippin, Sam, and Frodo." I took note of everyone's names. Frodo was the dark-haired one, Sam the one who looked like he was guarding Frodo. Merry and Pippin were both very cheerful. Gimli still appeared grumpy, and Legolas seemed to be measuring us.

Peter introduced us next. "We are from the land Narnia. I am High King Peter the Magnificent. This is King Edmund the Just, Queen Susan the Gentle, and Queen Lucy the Valient." I realized that Lucy had stepped out from behind me. We both curtsied, while Peter and Edmund bowed. The other company did the same.

"We have never heard of Narnia," Aragorn mused.

"That is because it is not from this land," Peter cut in, "We appeared here after a- day of travel." He apparently decided it was a good decision not to mention trains. I agreed with him. "Before we arrived here, we had not heard of Middle Earth." Aragorn nodded.

"Fair enough. Stranger things have happened." He told us. Finally, to break the tension (I think), Lucy went up and shook hands with all the- the hobbis? No, hobbits. That was it. Hobbits. After that, everyone appeared more relaxed. We all sat down, and ate some of their food rations. Lucy sat with Merry and Pippin. Frodo and Sam sat a bit off, Aragorn and Boromir sat with Peter, and Legolas sat with me. Gimli huffed and went off to "bash something in with my axe since all the heads here are important".

"You have quite a skill with your bow," Legolas remarked. "I have never met a human with that skill, much less a woman." I frowned at this. "Not because our women do not fight!" He hastily put in. "It is just extremely rare for any human to have that much talent. I have trained since I was but a child, and I could match you, but I doubt others could." For anyone else to have said that, I would have considered it bragging, but the way he said it, so matter-of-factly, made it seem like he was just talking about the weather. I told him so, and he laughed.

"You are human, are you not?" He asked, as if double-checking. I nodded.

"Yes, I am human. As are my brothers and sister." I told him.

"But then your brother did jest when he said you lived many lives!" Legolas exclaimed.

I sighed. "Not exactly." I told him. "You see, we actually come from a land called England. When I was 15, we stumbled into Narnia, where we had to defeat the White Witch and claim our rightful places as rulers. We learned to fight there, and lived as rulers until we were very old, when we stumbled back into England. No time at all had passed, so we went back to living our lives. Until we returned to Narnia. Thousands of years had passed, but we had to fight to give Narnia back to the Narnians. You see, the Telmarines had invaded, but one of them, a renegade prince, called for help. Once we won Narnia back, we were sent back to England. Until we came here." I added. Legolas looked dumbstruck.

"That must be some story," he told me, "You must recount it to me one day soon." I nodded, looking forward to telling someone my story who wouldn't treat me like I was crazy.

"Of course," I said gracefully, ever the diplomatic queen, "But for that to happen, my brother would have to stop arguing with Aragorn and Boromir." I told him. Legolas looked over his shoulder, surprised that I had picked up on that.

"Are you sure you are not half-elf?" He teased me. Before I could answer, he continued. "It is only Boromir he argues with. Aragorn is trying to come to an agreement. I think Boromir does not like the idea of women in our party." I snorted, a very un-lady-like action.

"Well, I don't like the idea of him," I informed Legolas, "But I don't go around insulting his gender because of it. In fact, it seems to be just a select few males. You and Aragorn seem perfectly fine, as do the hobbits." I smiled.

Legolas grinned at me. "True, true. Does that make you the better person, or are you just more of a diplomat?" I shrugged, not caring. "Well, either way, it looks as if they have come to some agreement. I think we shall be leaving soon." I looked back, and saw Peter and Aragorn shaking hands, and Boromir looking very put-out.

Peter came up to me with Aragorn right behind him, while Boromir went to "find that fool of a dwarf and help him bash things in".

"Susan, Aragorn's agreed to take us with them. They're headed for an elf village. We'll camp for the night and head out in the morning." I nodded. "I'm gonna go tell Lu. She'll want to know that she gets to spend some more time with her new best friends." He said wryly. I looked over at Lucy, who had enticed Frodo and Sam over and was now laughing loudly with all four hobbits.

"Alright." I told him. After he left, I turned back to Legolas.

"Looks like we've got time for that story now."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey! First off, I just want to say THANKS SO MUCH to everyone who's read and reviewed this story so far! I love you guys, you make my day. Reviewers:  
><strong>**Everyone who asked for that update: here you go! :)**

***Disclaimer 3: I am not JRR Tolkien or CS Lewis. Sadly. I do love their work. So, onto the story where I own nothing but the plot!**

**When Destiny Is Rushed**

**3**

When I woke up in the morning, I half-expected to be back in my bed at London, thinking that what had happened yesterday had been a dream. Opening my eyes, however, I realized it was real. I smiled, looking up at the trees and light blue sky. It seemed to have just dawned. My body woke itself up, so I guessed it to be around 7 or 8 back in London. Or maybe later. I had stayed up late telling Legolas about our various adventures in Narnia, so that might have messed up my system. Looking around and seeing most people still asleep, I decided that it hadn't. Leaving a note scratched in the ground saying that I went for a walk and to not freak out if I was gone, I stretched out and headed west (or left- there weren't stars out to navigate by. Yes, I could navigate by stars. Living in Narnia does that to a person.).

Heading through the woods, I realize Middle Earth is less like Narnia than I thought. Although I could still hear the trees, they were much thicker and heavier than in Narnia. The air was different, and the animals did not speak. Also, something just felt different. However, my brooding was interrupted by the sound of a stick cracking behind me. I whirled, mentally hitting myself for forgetting my bow, when I realized it was Peter.

He had my bow and quiver.

I smiled sheepishly at him as he handed them to me. "Susan, if you must go off walking in a strange wood without waking anyone up, the least you could do would be to take your bow with you." He told me, exasperated.

"Yes, brother dear," I told him, slinging them over my shoulder. "I wasn't planning on going far, anyway." Peter nodded at me.

"Of course you weren't, Susan," he told me. "But seeing as how everyone is up now, we can walk back and head out to this elf town that Aragorn tells me of."

I shrugged and turned back the way I had come and started walking, Peter only a beat behind me. We walked the way in silence, but it was a companionable silence. Reaching the spot where we had stopped the night before- I wouldn't go so far as to call it a "camp"- I saw that everyone had already packed up and was ready to go.

"Now that we've all arrived," Boromir said pointedly, looking at me, "Perhaps we might head off to Lothlorien?"

"Of course," I smiled sweetly, "I wouldn't want to keep you from your duties." Inwardly, I was frowning at him. Wasn't he raised to be polite to women? I'd have to find a reason for him to respect me, then, if he wasn't going to look for one. But for now, it'd probably be best for me to stay out of his way. I shook my head at him, and turned away to find Legolas. I was positive that my siblings would begin to think I was falling for the elf, but I truly wasn't. And that's not be lying to myself, either. I had the feeling that Legolas would come to be a very good friend, nothing more.

I found him counting all his arrows, which reminded me that I should probably go find the arrow I had shot the fruit over Boromir's head with. As if he had read my mind, Legolas pulled my arrow out from behind him. "Looking for something?" he teased. I smiled, and took it back.

"As a matter of fact, yes," I told him. Turning the arrow over in my hand, I realized that this was the first time I had gotten a good look at the arrows. The tip was a bright silver- it looked almost white. The wood looked mahogany and felt very sturdy. The fletching was like nothing I'd ever seen before. It seemed to change color with the light, being yellow and orange and red all at the same time. I was so absorbed in my examination of the arrow I think I actually jumped a bit when Legolas spoke.

"Eagle fletching," he told me. "The best there is. And the steel tip is Dwarven. They barely make arrows. I'd love to know where you got those." He spoke seriously. I smiled ruefully at him.

"I'd like to know too," I told him. "When we appeared here, we appeared dressed like we are know with the weapons we hold." I carefully put the arrow back into my quiver, which I had strapped on my back, along with my bow.

"Hm," Legolas appeared stumped. "Alright then. That is a mystery to ponder for another day, as we appear to be leaving now." I glanced over at the rest of our company and smiled at them. Peter and Aragorn were deep in discussion, following Lucy and the hobbits, who were singing and skipping off after Gimli and Edmund, who appeared to have found things in common after all. Leading them all was Boromir, looking very disgruntled.

"When did Gimli and Edmund become such good friends?" I asked Legolas, amused. He shrugged.

"I'm not exactly sure how it happened," He told me. "I woke up to them shouting at each other about something. I believe it was that Gimli believed that you shouldn't have wandered off, and your brother felt the need to defend you. Anyway, one minute they are yelling at each other, the next they are laughing and slapping each other on the back." I nodded.

"You know, the strange thing is that I'm not really surprised by that." I told him ruefully. "That seems to be how Edmund makes friends." We stood up and followed behind Peter and Aragorn.

For a while, we just walked in companionable silence. I noticed that, as time passed, Legolas got more and more on edge. I sensed that speaking now would be a bad idea, and suddenly noticed a flash of blond to my right. I saw another up on the left. A third was behind us. Now I knew what had Legolas so spooked. Being an elf, he probably saw them a while before I did. A few seconds later, I saw Peter start, and knew he had seen them too. He glanced back at me, and I shook my head almost imperceptibly. We shouldn't mention it. He nodded back at me, just as imperceptible.

A few minutes passed like that, in tense silence, waiting. I resisted the urge to draw my bow, knowing that I could draw it when they revealed themselves if need be. I heard a stick crack over to my left and a quiet whirr of air that sounded like a bow being drawn, and knew that they were about to reveal themselves. Without truly registering what I was doing, I had my bow nocked with an arrow and pointing at one of the elves- they looked too much like Legolas not to be- just as they circled us with their bows. Realizing that no one else had heard them, only Peter with his sword out and Legolas with his bow, I smirked over at Boromir. All of us had drawn closer in our forced march pace, and he was quite close enough to glare back at me.

"The dwarf was breathing so loud we could have shot him in the dark," the elf with Peter's sword drawn on him drawled. His bow was pointing directly at Peter's forehead. Slowly, I began to twist so that I would be aiming at him, but he swung his bow on my so fast I didn't even have time to realize it. "You wouldn't move, if you know what's good for you." His voice still had that drawling tone to it, and I was extremely wary of his bow, but there was something enrapturing in his eyes that left me momentarily blind to pretty much everything else.

The elf appeared startled by me too, his mouth half-opening in surprise. We both quickly recovered our senses, however, and remembered that we did have bows pointing at each other. Legolas didn't appear to have noticed anything, and decided to break the tension by staring pointedly at the elf until he realized it and started, turning towards Legolas.

"_Mae govannen, Legolas Thranduilion_," he told us, in which I assumed was an Elvish language. Legolas responded in kind.

"_Govannas vîn gwennen le, Haldir o Lórien_." Glancing over at me and seeing my extremely confused face, he translated for me. "Haldir- the elf threatening you with his bow- welcomes us. I responded in kind." I nodded, quite certain that only Legolas had been welcomed and that he had asked for something. How I deciphered that, I do not know. I stopped trying to puzzle it out, because Haldir resumed speaking.

_"A Aragorn in Dúnedain istannen le ammen_," he said, gesturing to Aragorn and nodding his head. That one I pretty much figured out: Aragorn was well known to them. Aragorn responded simply with Haldir's name again, not friendly, not cold or distant. I guess Aragorn understood Elvish, but he continued in our language- I hesitate now to call it "English"- so we could understand, I assume.

"We have travelled for a long way and are in need of shelter and assistance. Might you be of help?" The elf named Haldir nodded once.

"The Lady of the Woods expects you," he told us. "Follow me." Strangely, he didn't turn around and start walking. Instead, he continued talking. "But first, we must blindfold the dwarf." He told us, gesturing to Gimli, who proceeded, along with Edmund, to voice outrages. I sighed, almost positive that this was a racial thing. I decided to step in before Haldir decided to put an arrow through my brother.

"If Gimli must be blindfolded, so too must the rest of us go," I told him, using my best diplomatic training from Narnia. I also glared warningly around, letting my glare linger on Boromir, who had opened his mouth to say something. Aragorn nodded.

"'Aye," he told Haldir, "For it shall be better this way, so that none of us may betray your secrets." The elf nodded once and said a few more Elvish phrases. The rest of the elves walked around, taking out black bits of cloth. Why they carried them around, I cannot answer.

Haldir apparently took Legolas's well being very seriously, as he came over himself to blindfold him and me. I let him wrap the black cloth over my eyes, repressing the shivers that ran through my body when his gentle hands ran across my face. Suddenly, I felt a wisp of air blow past me and knew he had gone to lead us through the forest.

Feeling Legolas moving closer to me, I tried to inconspicuously lean his way. "You appear to have confounded Haldir, dear Indilwen," I made a confused noise, and he explained. "Indilwen is the Elvish version of Susan. I use it as a jest, thinking Haldir may think you an elf."

"And why must he think me an elf?" I asked, mildly annoyed, though I didn't know why.

"Only because you seem more like an elf than a human," he told me. "A petite elf with strangely dark hair, but an elf nonetheless."

"And no pointy ears," I reminded him.

"Ah, but you cannot see your ears because of your hair," Legolas countered. "Had you not been with your brothers and sister when we had found you, I would have been convinced you were at least half-elf."

I remained silent for the remainder of our walk through the woods of Lórien, pondering what all of that meant. As we stopped, I finally decided that I didn't get enough sleep and was having delusions. I stood patiently, waiting for my guide-elf to remove the blindfold from me. I was so lost in my own world that I was completely caught off-guard when, as my blindfold was removed, I looked up into the beautiful storm-blue eyes of Haldir. For a second I was left completely stupefied. He seemed to be too, before tearing away and quickly removing Legolas's blindfold. He walked away quickly, almost to the point of rudeness, to lead us into Lórien.

"What did I tell you, Indilwen?" Legolas asked, seemingly dumbfounded. I shook my head and followed after Haldir, telling myself that all it was was sleeplessness.


	4. Chapter 4

**So, I'm pretty much certain you are all going to kill me. Maybe I should have warned you about my hiatus. Would it help you to know that I have the whole thing written and will upload it in 1-2 chapters per week?**

**Disclaimer 4: I own neither the characters nor the world. I own only the writing and the plot.**

**When Destiny Is Rushed**

**4**

Arriving in Lórien, I decided I had never seen a more beautiful place. The leaves on the trees were a beautiful golden color, the bark smooth and grey like a pearl. The grass and plants were saturated with greens and blues. I gasped in wonder, and would have stopped walking altogether had Peter not dropped back and grabbed my arm to pull me along.

"Try and keep up, Susan," he told me, "I don't think these elves take kindly to having to wait up for us."

I nodded. "Agreed, brother dear." I responded, and made more of an effort to not hang around staring at the forest. We caught up with the rest of them soon enough. Seeing Haldir deep in conversation with Aragorn and Legolas, I stayed back with Peter and let him guide me so I could focus on what we were walking through.

I could see white houses scattered on the floor and staircases winding their way up huge oaks, up to where more houses lay nestled in the thick branches. Our escort led us up past these houses in the trees- tree-houses make them sound like the elves are little kids- and up into a great hall. There was a wide staircase leading up through the hall. At the top of it, there were two elves of unsurpassable beauty and stature.

Walking up the stairs and finally reaching them, I could see that the two elves were dressed alike in silvers and blues. The man looked very regal, and before I could register anything else he asked sharply, "But where is Gandalf? We have a great desire to speak to him." I saw pain in the eyes of the woman briefly, as if she knew what had happened to him.

"Gandalf the Grey has left us," she said in a musical voice like a thousand bells. "Needless were none of the deeds of Gandalf in life." I did not know who Gandalf was, yet from the pain in the eyes of all the Fellowship I could tell that he had been well-loved.

The Lady slowly looked into our eyes, seeming like she could read our souls. When her grey eyes bored into mine, I did not doubt she could. "You shall find love here, dear daughter. Do not be afraid of it, or it may leave you forever." I felt her voice echo in my head. When I finally tore my eyes away from her, I could still feel the echoes of her words. I could tell we were all awed by her. Finally, she spoke again.

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Tonight you shall sleep in peace." We were all relieved to hear that. I saw a collective sigh go around us, and we all let out some tension held inside. She dismissed us, and we all slowly turned and left, still a bit dazed at what had happened. As we were led to where we were going to stay, I let my mind drift over what had happened. Knowing not many people could cope with what had happened over the past two days, I smiled and shook my head. Wondering how long we would be in this place – Middle Earth – I couldn't help but wander back to the land of Narnia, and thinking of my sweet lands and trees, I drifted off to sleep.

I slept late the next morning. Having walked nonstop all the day before, I wasn't surprised to see the sun up fairly high as I washed my face and dressed. Wait, no – that was what I wanted to happen. What actually happened was Legolas tapping on my door right as the sun was rising.

"Indilwen," he spoke through the door, "You're getting up now. Come on." I grunted and rolled over onto my other side, trying to shut out the insistent knocking. "If you don't get up and out in 15 minutes, I'm finding someone with the key to your door. Or," he continued thoughtfully, "I could just kick it down." I groaned.

"Fine," I told him, rolling out of bed, "Fine, I'm up, I'm up. Don't kick down the door."

"Good," Legolas replied cheerfully, "And just to make sure you don't go back to sleep, I'm staying here until you come out." I sighed. I glanced over to where Lucy was sleeping – we had been given a shared room – and was very jealous of her ability to sleep through anything. Grumbling to myself, I looked around for something to wear other than what we had arrived in. My eyes finally landed on a plain white shirt, dark brown breeches, and a light brown tunic. The tunic was heavy with blue embroidery, not exactly my favorite, but as it seemed to be the only thing available to me I put it on, along with the shirt and breeches. I washed my face and decided to forgo putting up my hair, sensing that my 15 minutes were almost up. Yanking the door open, I saw Legolas standing up with his fist directly in front of the door, preparing to start hammering away again.

"Ah, Indilwen, wonderful!" Legolas exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "I was just about to break your door down!" I shushed him and shut the door, allowing Lucy to get a few more precious hours of sleep. "Now, come. There is someone you should meet. Properly." As he pulled me along after him, I thought of his decision to call me Indilwen. It was just teasing, I could tell- and for some reason I had the feeling that he was playing a prank on someone. It might've been that he just seemed unusually hyperactive, more like my brothers, than he was when I met him. Maybe he just felt so free here. I decided to be wary just the same.

He led me through a maze of corridors, passing room upon room upon room. I don't know how he didn't get lost, but he seemed to know exactly where he was going. Eventually, we exited the house. Legolas didn't even slow down, he just continued leading me through the houses and paths. Finally, we reached a stable.

"When are you going to tell me where we're going?" I asked impatiently.

"If you keep asking me, you'll never get to know," he retorted. "Now, be quiet. I told you, we're going to introduce you to someone."

"Does this someone know that we're being introduced?" I asked skeptically.

"Well, not exactly, no," Legolas trailed off. "But don't worry, it'll be fine. Just, um, keep your hair over your ears and follow my lead."

"Whatever you say," I muttered under my breath, feeling more and more like I was playing a part in something where I didn't know all of the lines. Or any of them, really.

I realized that I had stopped walking. Legolas was standing at the entrance to the stable. "Well, come on, then!" he exclaimed impatiently.

Entering the stable, I thought I had stepped back into Narnia. It was so similar to the stables at Cair Paravel I had to stop myself from doing a double take. The ceiling was a huge, thatched roof. There must have been forty or fifty horses, each in their own stall. Legolas led me past most of them, to the back of the stable, where there was already a horse missing from one of the cells. Next to the empty stall was a beautiful chestnut brown mare.

"Now, Indilwen," Legolas told me. "I want you to take Feanor out for a little ride through the forest. Get to know the place a bit. There's a small hidden path that leads to a clearing, but you should be able to find it with no trouble." I had given up on trying to understand what he was doing at that point.

"And you're not going with me because…?" I trailed off, waiting for him to finish the sentence. He just smiled.

"You'll figure that bit out soon enough. Here," he told me, grabbing my bow and arrows from inside the stall. I assumed he'd put them there last night. "Take these. Saddle up your horse here and head out. I'll tell everyone where you've gone." I just nodded.

"Fine," I told him. "But there will be retribution coming your way for this, I promise." He smiled.

"Assuming you don't like the surprise, of course," he waved at me. "Now, remember, keep your hair over your ears." He turned and headed back out of the stable, presumably to go back to sleep. I shook my head and half debated following him out and back to my room, but decided I should humor him. I was also much too curious as to who it was he wanted me to meet, so I took Feanor out of her stable and saddled her up.

"Come on, we should see what Legolas has in store for us, shouldn't we?" I whispered to her, mounting up. Together, we trotted out of the stable and into the forest.

As Legolas had said, I quickly found the small hidden path off to the side of the bigger one. "What on earth does he want me to see?" I asked my horse. She just shook her head. I slowed her down to a walk so she could pick her way through the path, covered with ivy, leaves, and sticks. I didn't want her throwing a shoe out here, I wasn't even certain I could find my way out.

About fifteen minutes into the ride, I found the clearing that Legolas had been talking about. A second later, I spotted the person that Legolas had presumably been talking about. Well, elf, more like. He was facing the opposite direction, so I only saw his back, and if he did hear me he didn't turn around. I assumed he did, or else he would have to be super distracted. I walked Feanor a few feet into the clearing before dismounting, making sure not to land on anything spiky. That would have been both bad and embarrassing.

After a few seconds, I decided that the elf hadn't actually heard me. He was just standing there, not moving, hands clasped behind his back. Maybe he slept standing up, I don't know. It was very weird. I decided not to unsling my bow from my back, figuring that it would probably be considered a hostile action and I might get shot in the face.

I realized I'd been standing next to Feanor absentmindedly patting her head for an inordinately long amount of time. I made up my mind to get the attention of the tall elf before me. I took a step forward, but accidentally stepped on a stick, making a cracking noise. A second later, the elf had turned around and I was cursing myself.

It was Haldir.

"You're lucky I didn't draw my bow on you," he told me, after a few seconds of silence.

"Well, you also don't have your bow," I remarked. He looked surprised. Man, he was out of it.

"I don't- yes I- oh," he trailed off as he felt his back. "Did Legolas send you?" he asked, changing the subject. I nodded.

"Yes," I told him. "He said there was someone I needed to meet here." Haldir nodded.

"That's what he told me as well," he said, seeming more and more formal by the second. "I assume you're Indilwen, then?" he asked. I was slightly thrown off by his use of my "Elvish name" before finally catching onto Legolas' scheme. I debated about half a second before deciding to go with it, figuring that Legolas must have a good reason for what he was doing. He didn't seem the type to play practical jokes just for the fun of it.

"Yes," I said, matching his formality. "You must be Haldir, the elf who led us here yesterday." He nodded.

"Sorry about the blindfolds," he told me, looking slightly sheepish before recovering. "It's a tradition that no dwarf may know where Lothlorien is." I shook my head.

"It's not a very fair tradition is it?" I asked. He shook his head.

"It may not be fair, but it's how things are done," he responded. "You seem very diplomatic," he remarked, catching me off guard with the subject change. "Where are you from?"

I said the first thing that popped into my head. "The Northern Forest." It was hopefully vague enough that Haldir would draw a conclusion about where "Indilwen" was from without asking me, therefore I could technically argue that I hadn't lied. Because one could argue that, because the wardrobe that led into Narnia was in woods that were in the North, I was from the Northern Forest.

"That must be how you know Legolas," Haldir remarked. Crisis avoided. "Did you see the Prince of Mirkwood often?" And, enter another crisis. So, Legolas was the Prince of Mirkwood. Mirkwood were forests in the north. Haldir thought I was from Mirkwood. Good to know.

"I didn't see much of him until recently," I told him. Again, not really a lie. This was going to be fun to explain later. Why was I doing this again?

"I suppose that makes sense," Haldir said. Crisis avoided. _I should start keeping track,_ I thought to myself. "So, are you here with the Fellowship? I'm surprised Boromir consented to having a woman join the quest, even if she is an elf." Enter Crisis Three. Dammit. This was going to be a fun stay.

"It took some convincing, I must say," I said. Also true. Also not a lie. "It was harder to get him to let Peter, Edmund, and Lucy come along." _Shoot,_ I thought. _Why did I mention them? And, Crisis Four._

"The other humans with you?" I nodded. "How did you accomplish that feat?" I started babbling, though apparently it made sense to him.

"The hobbits refused to leave Lucy after they met up with her," I started. Haldir nodded. "Peter and Edmund are her brothers, and absolutely refused to let her go without them." He kept nodding. All not lies. Crisis Four averted.

"So, do you want to head back and get some breakfast?" Haldir asked. I nodded, grateful for the respite in the questions.

"That sounds wonderful," I told him, smiling.

"You know, you have very dark hair and eyes for an elf," Haldir remarked as we were walking back to the stable. Feanor was following behind us.

"And you have very dulled senses for an elf," I retorted, starting to feel more comfortable around him. "I could have shot you earlier in the clearing if I'd wanted." Haldir ducked his head.

"I must admit, I'm not normally that unobservant," he told me. "I was- distracted." I nodded, not really knowing what to say to that. We took the rest of the walk in silence, until we reached the stable.

"I have to go put Feanor back in her stall and hang up my bow and arrows," I told Haldir. "Thank you for walking me back." He shook his head.

"It's nothing," he said. "I'll wait for you, you don't want to get lost on your way back to your house." I smiled.

"Thank you," I turned and walked Feanor back into her stall. I smiled to myself and almost brushed my hair behind my ear before remembering what I'd just done. The smile slid off my face. _I just created a fake persona,_ I told myself. _It's like I'm playing a role in a game controlled by people who I can't see._ It's what it felt like, too.

After unsaddling Feanor and hanging my bow and arrows up in her stall, I put a smile back on my face and went back out to see Haldir.


End file.
